Five Opals Shall Burn: The Angel of Music
by Angel of Music
Summary: PLEASE READ!!!! This is about fifth year and a new character is introduced. The Dark Lord has risen, and they are finding a way to defeat him once and for all. Meanwhile, Harry finds that he has anothing talent.
1. The Meeting

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for Vriti Jain. 

A/N: This is in fifth year.

Harry lay back on his bed in the Leaky Cauldron, going over all the recent happenings. Sirius, his godfather, who was an escaped convict for a murder he'd never done, had sent a letter by owl telling him to take the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron. Usually his Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon would have never let him go, but this time there was Sirius. Earlier in the summer, Harry had told the Dursleys that he had an escaped murderer for a godfather, and had conveniently forgotten to tell them that he was innocent. On the other hand, the Dursleys were probably glad to get rid of him for a whole month. 

Anyway, for whatever reason, the Dursleys had decided to let him go, as long as they had nothing to do with it. So, that morning he had taken all of his belongings, and had flagged down the Knight Bus with his wand. As usual, Stan Shunpike, the conductor, and Ernie the driver greeted him. This time, he didn't get hot chocolate, as it had spilled all over him when Ernie turned sharply, or a toothbrush, as it was morning. 

Finally when he got to the Leaky Cauldron, he was led up to Room 11 by Tom, the toothless old innkeeper, where Hedwig, his snowy owl, waited on the mantelpiece. 

It was the early afternoon, so Harry decided to go and walk around in Diagon Alley. It was too early in the summer to have gotten his list of supplies form Hogwarts. However, his robes were getting a bit short, and he needed to get more money from Gringotts, the wizarding bank run by goblins. 

As Harry walked out the room, he bumped in to something. He was about to say sorry, but there was no one there. Instead, there was a distinct "thud". "Oops, sorry" said a strange sounding voice, "I was testing out my new invisibility cloak." 

A few moments later a head appeared. The head, which apparently was a girl, had long black hair hanging down in two braids and bronze colored skin. She was very pretty, and was smiling. Her hands appeared, and took off the cloak. She was wearing light blue robes with gold embroidery on the sleeves and neck.

"I'm very sorry," she said. 

"It's okay" he replied, "Where are you from? I don't recognize your accent."

The girl grinned, "I'm from Chapel Hill, North Carolina."

"Where?" Harry asked.

"Oh," she said, taking in Harry's puzzled expression, "It's in the United States. By the way, my name is Vriti Jain. You must be Harry Potter."

Harry didn't ask how she knew his name. "Pleased to meet you Vriti. Would you like to go down to Diagon Alley?"

"Of course, but perhaps we should go eat lunch first."

Harry and Vriti went down to eat lunch downstairs. As they ordered, they talked a lot.

"What school are you going to?" Harry asked.

"Hogwarts, I was looking forward to meeting you. Since I went to a wizarding school in the US, I'll be in fourth year. What year are you in?"

"Fourth. Any idea what house you'll be in?"

"I'm supposed to be in Gryffindor." 

At that moment Hedwig and an unfamiliar eagle owl flew in. The eagle owl flew to Vriti, who gave it a bit of her pumpkin juice and some bread, after taking off the letter. Harry did the same. Harry opened the letter, and recognized Ron's untidy scrawl.

Harry,

Mum wants to invite you to some sort of a ball. It's by invitation only, and all the Ministry members, with their families are invited. Dad got us three extra tickets, one for you, one for Hermione, and one for some girl that's a year younger than us, who's going to be in Hogwarts next year in fourth year. She's the granddaughter of the Minister of Magic in India, and she's from the US. See if you can meet her, she's probably staying at the Leaky Cauldron. You also need some dress robes. Mum says you can get them form Madam Malkin's Robes for all occasions.

Ron

Harry hoped that Vriti was the granddaughter of the Minister of Magic. It would be fun to go to a ball with her. On the other hand, he had no idea how to dance. There was an image going through his head of himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties. But, he had to go.

"Um, Vriti?" 

"Yes?"

"Are you the granddaughter of the Indian Minister of Magic"

She turned pink. "Yes. Why?"

"I was, um, wondering if you were going to the ball with the Weasleys."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Um, I was also wondering if you knew how to dance."

"Of course. In India I always have to go to parties. I've been taking lessons for a little while now. You want me to teach you?"

"Yes. Will you?"

"Of course I will. Let's go to Diagon Alley."

"OK."

A/N: This fic was a lot of fun. Please review.


	2. A Snatch of Music

Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters except for Vriti Jain. I also don't own the Phantom of the Opera. 

A/N: Okay, Harry asked Vriti if she knew how to dance because he doesn't know how and doesn't want to look like a fool. (Is that enough for you Laura?)

Harry and Vriti walked through the streets of Diagon Alley.

"So, where do you want to go first?" asked Vriti.

"I need to get some dress robes from Madam Malkin's."

"Usually to get dress robes you should go to Madam Leah's. She designs them in a way that's best for you. Also, you may want to get two pairs of dress robes. Professor McGonagall sent me the supply list in advance, so that I could get everything. There will be a ball at Halloween for the 4th years and over."

"I think I'll be fine with one pair."

They walked in to Madam Leah's shop. The inside was very well lighted, and had a few doors. There was a squat little witch sitting on a cozy chair. 

"Just wait here, and make yourself comfortable." She said, leading Vriti away.

Harry waited for about fifteen minutes until Vriti came out, looking very pleased with herself, and holding a large package. He went in with Madam Leah to one of the connecting rooms. She measured him with a measuring tape with silver markings, reminding him of the measuring tape at Ollivanders, where he had gotten his wand. 

"What color robes would you like?"

Harry shrugged.

"I think green would be best, it'll bring out you're eyes."

Harry walked out in a few minutes, once his measurements were completed and the robes were made. Since they had nothing else to do, both of them went in to Quality Quidditch Supplies, where a Firebolt was on display. 

"Do you play Quidditch?" asked Vriti

"Yes, I play seeker, what sort of a broom do you have?"

"A Firebolt, and I play chaser."

"Really? So do I."

"Is their Quidditch at Hogwarts?"

"Of course."

"That's what I thought."

They walked out of Quality Quidditch Supplies and went in to their rooms in the Leaky Cauldron. There was a handsome tawny owl waiting for him, carrying a letter bearing a Hogwarts seal. He quickly opened the letter. 

Hogwarts School 

Of

Witchcraft and Wizardry

Headmaster: AlBus Dumbledore

(_Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. Of Wizards.)_

Dear Mr. Potter,

Term begins September 1. Please find the enclosed list of all the necessary books and equipment.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

__

Deputy Headmistress 

The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 4) 

By Miranda Goshawk

__

The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection

If you wish to take part in Hogwarts's first musical you need:

__

The Phantom of the Opera

As Harry looked up from his letter, he heard a snatch of music. It was coming from the hall. As he followed the music, it led in to a half open door. He knocked.

"Come in." said a familiar voice.

Harry opened the door, where Vriti was standing with a violin tucked under her arm. 

"Hello, I wasn't expecting you."

"Yeah, I heard you playing your violin."

"Oh, did it disturb you?"

"No, it was beautiful."

"Thank you, I don't usually get an audience."

"Oh yeah, I just got my letter from Hogwarts. What is this musical about?"

"Are you going to try out?"

"I don't know. I've never sung anything before."

"Well, _The Phantom of the Opera _is very beautiful. I guess if you had a low voice you could be the Phantom, but if it's higher you could be Raoul. Do you want to try out?"

"I guess so."

"Well try this."

She handed him a book with _The Phantom of the Opera _written across the cover, with a rose and a white mask.

"Um, I don't know how it sounds." Harry said.

"Oh, you can turn to _The Music of the Night. _Sing along with it."

She snapped her fingers, and an introduction started to play.

"_Night-time sharpens, heightens each sensation . . . _

Darkness stirs and wakes imagination . . . 

Silently the senses abandon their defenses . . . 

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor . . . 

Grasp it, sense it - tremulous and tender . . ."

Harry became more confident and adjusted to the tune. 

__

"Floating, falling, sweet intoxication!

Touch me, trust me savor each sensation!

Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in to the power of the music that I write - the power of the music of the night . . ."

As Harry finished singing with the music, he looked up. Vriti looked at him, beaming. 

"That was absolutely wonderful!" she exclaimed.

"Thanks." He mumbled.

"Now we can sing a duet! Are you sure you've never sang?"

"No."

THE END

(Of the chapter)

A/N: Wow! I think this just might turn out to be good. It'll probably be pretty long, and the story will unfold.

__


	3. Back to the Burrow

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or the Phantom of the Opera.

A/N: If you don't know this, it is the third in the series My Angel of Music. First is The Meeting, then A Snatch of Music.

The next day, Harry went shopping by himself. He would have gone with Vriti, but she had already gotten her shopping done, and was practicing for the audition for the musical. Not only was she trying to get a singing part, but also a violin part. He was trying to reason with her because it was very likely that she would get both parts. She thought it was nonsense and still kept on doing it. Harry was reminded strongly of Hermione, who last year, had to use a time turner to get to all of her classes. When he got back from shopping, he dropped his things off in his room, and went to Vriti's room. Instead of hearing her singing or practicing violin, she was sitting in an armchair reading her course books.

"Are you trying to memorize your textbooks?" Harry asked suddenly.

Vriti jumped up in surprise.

"No, why would I do that?"

"It just reminds me strongly of a friend at Hogwarts."

"Oh, That must be Hermione Granger."

"How did you know?"

"Because Mrs. Weasley decided to send me details about each person I don't know. I already know Percy, Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George, but I don't know Ginny, Ron, or Hermione." 

"Do you have any idea when the Weasleys are coming here to pick us up to go to the ball?"

"We'll be leaving tomorrow."

"You see, I have a bit of a problem about the ball."

"What is it?"

"I was never taught how to dance. That's why I asked you if you knew how to dance."

"Well, that's fine. I can teach you. Also, about that audition for the _Phantom of the Opera_, I think we should do a duet."

"What sort of a duet?"

"Well, there are plenty of duets between the Phantom and Christine, who is the main female character."

"We need to find one that has no other people besides the Phantom and Christine."

"The song that I think would work has 'offstage voices'"

"That would work."

For the rest of that day Harry and Vriti started to work on their duet. 

Vriti would start _"In sleep he sang to me, in dreams he came . . . _

That voice which calls to me and speaks my name . . . 

And do I dream again? 

For now I find the Phantom of the Opera is there - inside my mind . . ."

Then Harry would come in as the Phantom. 

__

"Sing once again with me our strange duet . . . 

My power over you grows stronger yet . . ."

Then Vriti would burst out laughing.

"Why must you keep laughing?" Harry would ask angrily.

"It's just so funny!" Vriti would say in between laughs, "Your expressions are just really weird."

"Okay, I'll try not to do that, just don't look at me."

After a bit more concentration on Vriti's part, they finally got to sing the song all the way through. When they got it polished and almost ready, Vriti began to teach Harry to dance. They spent the rest of the day learning, although Harry never really got to dance with Vriti, he just danced by himself, pretending to dance with someone else. She taught him all the more common dances. They kept on going until it was time for dinner.

"Well I think we're done for the day," said Vriti, over dinner.

"I'm absolutely exhausted,"

"You'll get used to it."

"Hmph. I'm going to sleep."

"Suit yourself. I haven't practiced violin all day."

"Wonderful, I won't get to sleep because of your horrible screeches."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding. I know you're great with music."

"Harry?" she asked, suddenly, "What did the Sorting Hat say to you? When you were being sorted, I mean."

"It wanted to put me in Slytherin, but I didn't want to be in Slytherin, so it put me in Gryffindor. Why?"

"I just wanted to know."

"What did the Sorting Hat say to you? Or, since you were in the US, how did you get sorted?"

"Professor McGonagall requested the Sorting Hat to sort me, even though I wasn't there. That kind of thing happens very rarely, but it happened that time. After it sorted me, Professor McGonagall sent me exactly what it said."

"What did the Sorting Hat say to you?"

"It wanted to put me in Ravenclaw, because it said I was smart. Then, after I kind of said I didn't want to be in Ravenclaw, it added, sort of as an after thought that I would do better in Gryffindor." 

"Why did you move to England anyway?"

"The Ministry of Magic has ambassadors from different countries. My father, being the son of the Minister of Magic became the ambassador from India to England."

Harry trudged back to his room, while Vriti energetically ran up the stairs. The next day, Vriti and Harry came downstairs for a very late breakfast. Harry, being so exhausted, and Vriti, staying up so late practicing violin. They met the Weasleys and Hermione with their families chatting.

"Good Morning, Harry and Vriti," said Mr. Weasley, "Come eat breakfast with us." 

Harry and Vriti sat down with the Grangers and the Weasleys. Harry met the two Weasley brothers that he had never met before, Bill and Charlie. 

"How're you doing Harry?" said the nearest of the two brothers. 

"He held out a hand, which was callused and had blisters under his fingers. This was Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania. He had a broad, good-natured face, which was so freckly, that he looked almost tanned. His arms were muscular, and one of them had a large shiny burn on it. 

Bill got to his feet, smiling, and also shook Harry's hand. Bill came as something of a surprise. Harry knew that he worked for the wizarding bank, Gringotts, and that Bill had been Head Boy at Hogwarts; Harry had always imagined Bill to be an older version of Percy: fussy about rule-breaking and fond of bossing everyone around. However, Bill was- there was no other word for it- _cool. _He was tall, with long hair that he had tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing an earring with what looked like a fang dangling from it. Bill's clothes would not have looked out of place at a rock concert, except that Harry recognized his boots to be made, not of leather, but of dragon hide." (Excerpt from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling)

"So, all ready to go?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"I have to put a few things back, and get properly dressed," Vriti replied.

Now that Harry noticed it, she had her hair down, hanging down to her waist, and wearing what was unmistakably a bathrobe. Her dark brown eyes, under glasses, were bleary and a bit bloodshot. She walked up the stairs, and appeared a few minutes, later wearing green robes and her hair in a ponytail. Vriti was also carrying her trunk, and her violin case. Harry ran up the stairs to get his own trunk. Once Harry came down, Mrs. Weasley handed out Floo Powder. Fred and George took Harry's trunk, and Charlie took Vriti's trunk. Bill also offered to take her violin case, but she politely declined. Fred and George went first, throwing the Floo Powder in to the merrily dancing flames.

"The Burrow!" they shouted.

Next, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley went. 

"See you there. The Burrow!"

Then Bill and Charlie. 

"The Burrow!"

Hermione went next.

"The Burrow!"

Then Vriti.

"Argghh! I hate Floo Powder," she grumbled. Then, holding on to her glasses, she threw the Floo Powder in, and clutched her violin case tightly.

"The Burrow!"

Last, Harry went. He threw the Floo Powder in, the flames felt invitingly warm. 

"The Burrow!" he shouted, closing his eyes and stepping in. 


	4. The Magic in the Music

****

The Magic in the Music

A/N: I decided to put this in fifth year. Harry has already met Bill and Charlie. I know no one reads this, but oh well. Do three disclaimers count? I hate putting them in. To encourage reviews, I'll start giving out house points. Check at the bottom for an author's note with the thing for house points. Remember, first come, first serve.

****

Harry walked out of the fireplace, sooty, and a bit bruised. All the others, except for the Grangers (not Hermione) had been left behind, and were dusting themselves off. Fred, George, and Charlie, who had the trunks, had apparently gone upstairs. Hermione and Ginny were dusting themselves off, and complaining good-naturedly about Floo Powder. Vriti was checking her violin case for dents and scratches, apparently not noticing that her glasses were completely covered with soot. When Ginny pointed it out to her, she sounded surprised and said a small "Oh!" and took out a handkerchief and started cleaning them. 

After everyone got cleaned up, Mrs. Weasley started to make lunch. Despite complaints of "I'm not hungry!" and "We just ate breakfast!" she still continued. When she was asked why she just said, "Some people need fattening up" glancing at Vriti and Harry. Vriti let out a small snort.

"I've heard you're a great Quidditch player, Harry," said Charlie, who was called "the greatest seeker Hogwarts had ever had".

"I suppose so," Harry replied.

"Let's go play Quidditch then," said Charlie.

"I'll go get my broom," said Harry.

"Wait for me!" chorused Bill, Ron, Fred, George, and Vriti.

They had a wonderful game of Quidditch. Since there weren't many people, they only had one of each player, and Bill had to be Keeper for both teams. Harry, Vriti, and Fred (with Bill) won the game, even though Charlie caught the Snitch. They won by about twenty points, because they had Vriti as the Chaser. She was a wonderful Chaser, with good tactics and all. It was too bad that all the Chasers were still at Hogwarts. When Mrs. Weasley called them down for dinner, they were all truly hungry. Mrs. Weasley's food was delicious. They had to eat outside, because 12 people would not fit in the tiny kitchen.

"Where's the ball going to be?" Hermione asked.

"It's going to be outdoors, in Hogsmeade. All the Ministry members have been working on it for weeks," Mr. Weasley replied.

"The decorations are fabulous!" said Percy, abandoning his stiff manner, "There will be fairy lights everywhere and-"

"Percy, it's supposed to be a surprise," said Mr. Weasley sternly.

"Oh, right," Percy looked disappointed. 

"How will we get there in our dress robes?" Ginny asked.

"We'll go earlier in the day, and stay at a hotel in Hogsmeade, set up for the Ministry members. As Percy was saying, the decorations are fabulous, and it is classified information," Mr. Weasley answered.

"When will it be?" asked Ginny.

"On the day after tomorrow," replied Mr. Weasley.

The next day it was too rainy to go out and play Quidditch, so the children took an outing in the small magical town that they got to from the train station. They all disappeared their separate ways. Ron, Harry, Fred, and George in to the Quidditch shop, Bill and Charlie in to the little bar, Vriti went in to the library and Hermione and Ginny went to browse around in the rain.

* * *

__

In the library…

She burrowed down further in to the soft purple chair with clawed feet. In her lap lay a thick, heavy book, which she could barely prop up. Outside, the rain poured down in sheets, with the occasional hailstone. Every few minutes there would be a flash, and then a huge clap of thunder. Harry hurried in, disturbing the peaceful silence she had created.

"Vriti! We've got to go! Do you know how long you've been in here?" Harry shouted.

She jumped. Harry wondered how that was possible, because of the huge book in her lap, and the fact that she was sitting down. They were running very late. Vriti had been in there for about three hours. He looked at what she was reading. She automatically shifted her hand over the title. 

"Well, I suppose we should go," Vriti said.

"Yes, you've been in here for three hours and no one knew where you where," Harry replied.

"Seriously? I've been in here the whole time."

"Yes I'm serious. Come on, we don't want to keep them waiting."

Harry and Vriti stepped out in to the rain. Vriti's umbrella was bright green and rather interesting. They spotted the Weasleys at once because of their flaming red hair that was visible even in the rain. All of them made their way back to the train station, where there was another enchanted platform to go to the Burrow. 

When they got back to the Burrow they decided to pack before dinner. Hermione, Vriti, and Ginny spent a good while conspiring in the girls' room and packing at the same time. No one took any notice, because they were so busy packing in the small room that most of the boys shared. Everyone went to sleep exhausted. 

The next morning Harry was woken up by the twins making a racket. They had set off a number of Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks as a wake-up call. 

"Did you have to do that?" Ron grumbled.

"Of course we did," Fred and George chorused.

"Wonderful joke," Vriti said dryly, sticking her head in the doorway, "Too bad I was already awake."

"Must you early risers take the fun out of our pranks?" Fred said with mock sadness.

They took Muggle taxis to the train station, like last year. This time it was better, because they didn't have to go so far, and they had less luggage. 

"Where is the ball?" Ginny inquired suddenly.

"It's in Hogsmeade, dear," Mrs. Weasley replied, "You have today and tomorrow to have fun, but the ball is tomorrow evening."

"Oh wonderful!" George exclaimed, "We need to replenish our stocks."

"Imagine if we set off Dungbombs in the middle of the ball!" Fred said dreamily.

"Ah, my heart weeps for the scent of Dungbombs!" Vriti said melodramatically.

Mrs. Weasley gave them a stern glance. "You mustn't do anything of the sort. Some people from all over the world are coming." 

"It was just a joke," George said, with what was supposed to be a pitiful expression.

"No jokes like that while we are in Hogsmeade," she said sternly.

Outside it was the exact opposite of yesterday. The sky had no clouds in sight, and there was nary a breeze stirring. As they went in to the train station, the platform was much like 9 3/4, except for it was to many different places. To the magical eye, it showed the times on the lighted up board. They all went in pairs to get to the train. Fred and George went first, then Ginny and Mrs. Weasley. Mr. Weasley and Harry went next, and a huge blue train was on the bustling platform. The rest of the Weasleys, Vriti, and Hermione appeared. As they boarded they found their friend Seamus Finnigan and went in to a compartment with him. Harry introduced Vriti to him.

"Pleased to meet you," said Seamus, shaking her hand.

"You too," she replied.

"Do you know of anyone else who'll be here?" Seamus asked.

"No, but I know that Malfoy will," Ron said disgustedly.

"He doesn't really count though, does he?" Seamus wickedly replied.

"No," said Hermione and Ron together.

At that moment, none other than Draco Malfoy, with his two cronies, Crabbe and Goyle walked through the door. 

"So, it's Potty, the Weasel, the Bush, and the Leprechaun," he drawled.

Seamus and Ron quaked with anger. Hermione kept a grip on Ron's robes, Vriti on Seamus's, and Harry keeping one hand on both. 

Draco noticed Vriti, and said: "So, you've actually made a proper friend now," he turned to Vriti, "You know, if you hang around with people like these, they'll rub off on you. You shouldn't make friends with the wrong sort of people, that's where I can help you." (A/N: I know that's somewhat like what's in the book, but it's not a direct quote. I'm just saying that some parts are similar and I really don't want to get sued.)

"No thanks, I can judge people for myself. I know that the wrong sort of people are just like you," she said in an innocent voice.

Malfoy gestured to Crabbe and Goyle, and walked off. 

"Ugh, he's horrible. How can you stand him?" Vriti asked.

"We don't. Last time that he was really horrible, Hermione slapped him across the face," Ron replied.

"Seriously? I wouldn't expect that out of you, Hermione."

Hermione glowed with pride. 

A tall girl walked in with medium-brown hair. 

"Can I sit here? There isn't any room anywhere else," she asked.

"Laura? Is that you? The last time I saw you was in Romania!" Vriti exclaimed.

"Yeah, Dad's still chasing dragons there. He actually formed some sort of an environmental protection agency for them. It's really successful, and many people have come to work there," Laura replied.

"Do you by chance know Charlie Weasley?" asked Ron curiously.

"Oh yeah, I know him. He's the one who recommended me for Hogwarts. Wait, are you his brother? He said that he was visiting his family here, and going to the ball."

"Yeah," Ron replied.

"Wow! We live in such a small world," she said. 

"Are we there yet?" Vriti asked, bored with the current conversation.

"No, otherwise the train would have stopped," replied Hermione.

"It was rhetorical," she said.

"What does that mean?" they all chorused.

"According to Merriam-Webster…" she began.

"Who?" asked Seamus.

"A dictionary. As I was saying, it means 'asked merely for effect with no answer expected," she replied tartly. (That seriously is from Merriam-Webster.)

"What do you want to do when we get there?" Harry asked.

"How about we go shopping in Hogsmeade?" Ron replied.

"Good idea," said Laura.

The train slowed down to a halt. Mr. Weasley came in to the compartment.

"You should leave your luggage in here," he said.

"Where are we staying?" Harry asked.

"The people who are alone are staying inside Hogwarts, but the people with family are staying in a special hotel set up outside Hogwarts. We have four rooms. Molly and I are in one, Bill, Charlie, and Percy in the second, the boys in the third, and the girls in the fourth," he said.

When they went through the elegant doorway, the sparkling chandelier dazzled them. Two beautiful marble staircases with red carpets connected at the top, looking very elegant. There were also two gold doors with buttons outside of them. The two gold doors had no doorknobs.

"Where do those lead to?" asked Ginny, pointing to the two golden doors.

Mr. Weasley looked excited, just like the time he saw the Dursleys' electric fireplace; 

"These are called Magical Elevators. The idea is from Muggle elevators. The elevators go up and down, to entrances at the push of a button. Our model doesn't use electricity (he finally got it right!), but it uses magic. It is also slightly advanced, because it goes to any specified entrance in seconds. There can also be a few more elevators working at the same time, because they don't have tracks. Let's go in, shall we?"

He pushed the button, and one of the golden sets of doors opened in to a small room lined with mirrors and gold handrails. There was deep scarlet carpeting, which sank deeply as they stepped on it. The mirrored door suddenly opened, and Ron, who was leaning against it, fell through on to bright purple carpet. Vriti stepped over him carefully, and gave him a hand to help him get up.

They had a small tour of the bedrooms. The boys' room was the biggest, because it had to have the most people. The girls' room and the older boys' room were slightly smaller. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's room was even smaller, because it only had two people staying in it.

The trunks had appeared magically in their rooms. Soon everyone was busy in the task of unpacking. They also found that the rooms connected into a small 'common room', although they could lock the door into it from the inside of the room. Once everyone was done, they decided to explore the hotel. Most of it was as elegant as the entrance. They narrowly avoided another encounter with Draco Malfoy, as they were looking for other people that they knew. They actually did have an encounter with Professor Snape, who was as nasty as usual, but couldn't tell them off for anything. All he did was glare his usual glare, and tell them to stop bothering others and get back to their rooms. As Snape swished him cloak and walked away Vriti whispered:

"Is he always that horrible?"

"Of course, and especially to us," Harry replied.

"What does he teach?" she inquired.

"Potions,"

"Oh, that was my favorite subject," she sounded disappointed.

They walked back to their rooms. 

"What should we do now?" Ron asked.

"How about we go to Hogsmeade and show Vriti everything?" Harry replied.

"Good idea," Hermione said.

They walked off through the entrance, and went in to the main area of town. They showed Vriti Zonko's, Honeydukes, and the Post Office, where there were hundreds of owls. They wanted to stay and shop longer, but Vriti wanted to see all the sights. Then she asked the question they had all been dreading:

"What about the Shrieking Shack? I've heard it's the most haunted place in Britain."

At that moment, Harry decided that he trusted her enough to tell her about Sirius. 

"Have you heard of Sirius Black?"

"Yes, of course, he gave everyone a scare two years ago. Now he's another country's problem," she said.

"Well, there's something about him that you need to know," Harry said.

"What does this have to do with anything?" she asked exasperatedly.

"It has to do with me, and the Shrieking Shack, two years ago."

"Do you know the whole history of his crimes?"

"Yes, I know that he murdered thirteen people with one curse, exploded a street, and…"

"And what?"

"And killed your parents."

"See, what we know is that he was an innocent man," Hermione said.

"How could he be? There were witnesses right there when he blasted that street up and killed those poor, harmless Muggles."

"You see, it was actually Peter Pettigrew, not Sirius Black who was on Voldemort's side. Sirius thought that no one would suspect a 'harmless' person like Peter, and changed the Secret-Keeper at the last minute. Peter Pettigrew betrayed them to Voldemort, and the next day confronted Sirius Black. Pettigrew was too quick for Sirius, and he had his wand behind his back. He was the one who blasted up the street, and killed the innocent people," Harry said grimly.

"But how has he hidden himself for all this time? I thought that his mother received Pettigrew's finger in a box, because it was the largest bit of him that he could find."

"It was all carefully planned. Pettigrew cursed the people, blew up the street, then cut off his finger, and turned in to a rat. He was hiding as a pet rat with me for thirteen years." Ron said.

"Pettigrew turned into a rat? Are you people feeling all right?"

"I think we should explain. There were three unregistered Animagi in Hogwarts then. You see all of them found out that Remus Lupin, one of their friends, was a werewolf. They wanted to be with him while he was in his werewolf form, so they became Animagi because werewolves were only harmful to humans. Two of them were large animals so they could keep a werewolf in check. My dad was a stag, Sirius was a huge dog that looked like the Grim, and Peter was a rat," Harry explained.

"Have you ever noticed that Sirius the star is called 'the Dog Star'?" Vriti asked.

"That's something we certainly haven't noticed," Hermione said, with her usual dignity, but looking a bit put out that she hadn't made that observation. 

"Hey people! I thought you were going to meet me here?" Laura yelled loudly, spotting them.

"Oh, well. I guess we kind of forgot," Vriti said apologetically.

"It's okay, I really don't mind. Have you done very much shopping?" Laura asked.

"No, they've just been showing me around," Vriti replied.

"Oh, good. I was looking for you around the hotel, and your mother said you were in Hogsmeade, so I've been looking for you for the last fifteen minutes," Laura explained.

"Sorry we made you have to look everywhere," Ron said, getting up and dusting off his robes.

"It doesn't matter," Laura replied.

"Where do you want to go first?" Harry asked.

"Let's go to Zonko's," Vriti said.

They set off on their way to Zonko's, where Vriti and Laura were doing a great deal of whispering. Every once in a while, Laura would start giggling uncontrollably. The attracted a few strange looks, but they were both too wrapped up in what they were doing to notice. Harry didn't even try to spy on them, but Hermione had her disapproving frown on. Afterwards, they went to Honeydukes, where they all stocked up on candy. When they came in sight of Hogwarts, their topic switched to school.

"I heard you were going to Hogwarts this year?" Ron inquired of Laura.

"Yeah, your brother recommended me to go there. He said that his whole family had gone there. I'm supposed to be in fifth year, because I went to White Oak School of magic. That's where Vriti went also. We met each other there. I'll be in Gryffindor, Professor McGonagall said so. Speaking of professors, I met Professor Snape while looking for you. He's horrible," Laura said.

"Of course, he's the meanest professor we have!" Ron exclaimed.

"He's biased against Gryffindors, and we found out last year that he used to be a Death Eater," Harry added.

"Seriously? How did Dumbledore hire him?" Vriti asked. 

"He said that he had trusted him, and that Snape became a spy against Voldemort," Ron answered.

"I thought Voldemort had ways of finding out which of his Death Eaters were spies. He always had some sort of a horrible fate for them," Laura said.

"I think it's getting dark, and we should get back," Vriti said, ever the practical one.

Laura groaned, "Must you always be so practical?"

"Of course. You know all that TV you watch says to be true to yourself," she said.

"What's TV?" Ron asked.

"It's a television. It shows transmitted images on a screen," Hermione explained.

"In English, please," Ron said.

"Ask your dad, he knows how they work," Harry said.

They walked back to the hotel, and went in to the Magical Elevator. When Laura started to lean against the walls, Ron said:

"You'll hurt yourself."

"Speak for yourself. I know that there are only two doors to go out of this elevator. Those are the two," she said, pointing to the two opposite walls next to her wall, "I'm not leaning on one of them."

"Hmph," said Ron. (A/N: I seem to have a bunch of 'hmph's).

Laura got out on her floor, and the rest of them got out on the third floor, where their rooms were. As they came in the door, they saw something that they hadn't seen before. It was a grandfather clock, much like the one at the Weasleys' home. It was useless if you wanted the time, but it had each hand with someone's name engraved in it. All of them were 'in there bedrooms' right now. Mrs. Weasley walked out of her room, with Mr. Weasley following. 

"It's time for dinner," she said to no one in particular. She rapped on the boys' door, and the older Weasleys' door and yelled, "Time for dinner!"

Everyone emerged from their rooms and walked down to the exit of the hotel. There was a huge dome supported by gold columns with tables underneath. As they entered, a witch at the entrance to the dome said:

"There are assigned places for each person, so if you'll check the lists, you'll find out where to sit."

Everyone scanned the lists for their name. Harry found his, and saw that he'd be sitting with Vriti, Laura, and Draco Malfoy. He walked over to the table, where Draco Malfoy was already sitting.

"I was hoping you weren't coming," he drawled.

"Why?" Harry asked coolly. 

"Because, you're going to have to sit next to me." 

As much as Harry despised Malfoy, he saw this as and opportunity to get even with all the nasty things that he had done to Harry. Vriti came and sat down on the other side of Harry. 

"_Megas Vorare,_" she whispered.

"What does that do?" Harry asked.

"You'll see," she replied with a mischievous grin on her face.

Almost at once, Malfoy started rocking back and forth like Dobby, a house-elf. 

"When's the food coming? When's the food coming?" he repeated over and over again. 

Malfoy kept looking at everything, as if deciding whether it tasted good or not. He looked oddly like a wolf, and Ron came by and whispered in to his ear,

"Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret, can now turn in to a wolf."

Harry tried his best not to laugh. When the food finally came, Draco's eyes were bulging out, and looked like a cross between a starved eagle and a ravenous wolf. Malfoy piled everything on his plate, so that it was almost a foot high. 

"That's just sick," Vriti said, pointing to all the food mixed together, even the desserts.

"Yeah, really," Harry replied, "When will the spell wear off?"

"In exactly one minute," Vriti said with an evil grin.

One minute later, Draco was gazing in disgust at his mountain of food. He was also massaging his aching stomach, because he had eaten _way_too much. The rest of dinner was pretty much uneventful, and they went back to their rooms.

When they got up in to their rooms, Harry decided to rearrange some of the things in his room. He was a fairly neat person, but Fred, George, and Ron definitely were not. His first job was to tackle the closet, where everything had already been piled up. First, he pulled everything out of it, on to the floor. He sorted it in to three piles, one of each person's belongings. At that moment Vriti came in.

"How _can _you people live like this? I mean, I only have school junk on the floor in my room at home, but never _clothes_," she said.

"I'm just trying to straighten the closet out," Harry replied calmly.

"I never thought it would be _you_as the maid," she said in disbelief.

"Maid?!" Harry exclaimed, "I'm not a MAID! I'm just trying to make it so our clothes don't grow mold in two days!"

"Touchy, touchy. You don't have to get that excited because I call you a maid," Vriti walked out the door.

Harry ended up getting so sick of cleaning, that he put away all of his own stuff, and dumped Fred, George, and Ron's things on their beds. He was exhausted after doing everything that day, so he went to sleep immediately. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep.

* * *

The next day, he woke up to a silent room. Enjoying the peace and quiet, he savored it, knowing that it would be gone in a matter of minutes. Harry got up, and looked at himself in the mirror.

"Oh my God! " he yelled. His hair was hot pink, instead of its usual jet black. He heard laughing coming from the other side of the wall. Harry crossed through the 'common room' and went in to the girls' room. Inside he found Vriti, Laura, and Ginny laughing so hard they were crying. Across the room was Hermione, with her arms crossed and a disapproving frown identical to Professor McGonagall's.

"Sorry Harry. It was impossible to resist. You slept so soundly, and it was soo easy once we tried it," said Laura, trying to look apologetic, but she kept being overcome by laughter. 

"Oh, right. Just pick on the ones who can actually sleep, just because you can't!" Harry retorted.

"We could sleep. We just stayed up because it was impossible to resist. Anyway, if we couldn't sleep, how would we have woken up?" Vriti explained.

"Okay, just how do I make it turn black again?" Harry asked.

"It's supposed to wear off in a few minutes," Ginny said.

"Supposed to?" Harry asked.

"It _will _wear off in a few minutes," Ginny said, correcting her mistake.

"Anyway, on to nicer topics," Vriti said, "There's a little ice skating place in Hogsmeade. Wanna go?"

"Of course," Hermione replied.

"Sure," said Ginny.

"Umm, I'm not so sure. I've never ice skated before," Harry replied, unsure.

"We could teach you!" Laura said.

"And that's only part of the day," Vriti said enthusiastically, "We should work on our audition for The Phantom of the Opera! I'm trying out for a singing part as well as a violin part."

"And why would you want to that?" Ginny asked.

"What if I don't make one of them?" Vriti replied sensibly, "Are any of you trying out?"

"I'm trying out for Christine," said Hermione.

"Same here," the others replied simultaneously.

"Oh, woe is me, for I shall never make it if I am competing with Laura the Great!" Vriti said melodramatically, casting her hand on her forehead.

"You know you'll probably get a chorus part," Laura said.

After breakfast, they went down to the ice skating rink. They gave their normal shoes to the wizard at the desk, who transfigured them into ice skates. As Vriti put her shoes down on the desk, he noticed that she had extremely small feet next to the ones of Laura. 

"Your feet are tiny!" Harry said.

"Yeah, and?" Vriti replied.

"I was just saying."

When they got on to the rink, they saw that no one else was there.

"I've got an idea!" Vriti said brightly.

"What?" Laura replied.

"We can practice!" Vriti declared.

"But we don't have any music," Hermione said.

"That's why I can do the music," Vriti replied.

"Okay, that works," Laura said.

"Who wants to be Christine first?" Vriti asked.

"I will," Hermione volunteered.

Vriti hummed the introduction for Think of Me. 

Hermione started, and her voice sounded a bit squeaky,

"_Think of methink of me fondly,when we've said goodbye.Remember meonce in a while -please promise meyou'll try.When you findthat, onceagain, you longto take your heart backand be free -if youever find a moment,spare a thoughtfor me_"

At that moment, in the actual show, there was a transformation, in which Christine was revealed in full costume, and there was a transformation to the Gala. Vriti hummed the music in between the singing, and the lights grew dim. Harry gasped. Hermione was standing, in her ice skates, wearing what was apparently Christine's "full costume". 

*****************

A/N: Please review! I live off of them! I'm leaving you on a cliffhanger, but it'll be back soon.


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